We've done a little bit of nomadic travelling recently, followed by a bit of a lazy stretch! After going Goan, we headed to a small town called Alleppey, which lies on the south west coast of India. We had heard so much about backwater trips we thought we would give it a go. Not only did we escape the constant request for money, but we were in one of the most beautiful places we've ever been. The backwaters of Alleppey have become known as the Venice of the East, and it probably wouldn't be overshadowed by Venice. The views are spectacular. The rivers branch off in all directions, straddled by paddy fields and small huts in which families live. After finding out that the people of Alleppey don't eat, and having no restaurants or cafes anywhere, we were pleasantly surprises with the food we had on the house boat. Fresh fish served with rice, chappati's, and an Indian potato salad was just the ticket! We watched the sunset as we floated on the still backwaters.
The escape from reality was short lived as we only spent one night on the house boat before we had to head to Trivandrum. We decided to do this in style and travel like a local on one of the state buses. Not for the faint hearted! Aside from the heat and the sweatiness, some bright spark had fitted the loudest horn in the world INSIDE the bus, approximately 3 foot from our ears. This would be ok, but Indians use the horns more often than they spit, and thats alot! But hey, for 50p each to travel 200km, we shouldn't complain, but we will, cos we can :)
After getting annoyed at the sparsity of food on the streets of Alleppey, we were grateful to find a few restaurants in Trivandrum. No sooner did we find them did we find out that we couldn't order anything without chilli's! Even the plain scrambled egg was served with chilli. But wow, they know how to make ice cream!! The ice cream cost twice as much as the meal, but absence of the chilli's was immense!! As our flight to Thailand is on the 26th from Trivandrum, we wanted to stay pretty close. We were desperate to see some wildlife so we got on another state bus and headed to Vithura, a small town close Peppara Wildlife sanctuary. Big mistake! This town had never seen tourists, and one and a half white people was enough for over one hundred school kids to stop and stare and point and laugh. The one thing we realised was that in small villages that aren't used to foreigners can be very unwelcoming. With them not knowing any English, and us not knowing any Indian, we were stuck. So after an hour of milling around trying to find food without chilli's in, we became so frustrated and angry, we paid a large some to head to Neyyar Dam Wildlife Sanctuary. We arrived in the dark and went to one of the only hotels there were, which was right near the dam. Shortly before going to bed, we heard some strange growling, we joked that it was a lion or a tiger outside our room, but settled thinking that they were playing it through speakers around the hotel. When we woke up, we realised how close we were to nature. An excited little girl shouted "Oh my god the view is amazing!", although at 8am a tired little boy replied "go back to bed". The balcony overlooked the lake, which was surrounded by what looked like a rainforest! Not knowing where to go, or what to do, we headed to the wildlife tourist information centre. Here, we met a few other travellers who were also a little confused about what to do, so we all stuck together. Once we had a group of ten, we headed over to the lion safari park, via boat as it was enclosed on an island. Once we arrived on the island, we all piled in to a small bus, which was covered in bars to protect us. Although several safety precautions were put in place, the one thing they forgot was to lock the door!!! As soon as we entered the enclosure, the door flung open and we screamed! They had no way of keeping the door shut, so kav jumped to the rescue with a shoe lace! A few reef knots later...and we were on the move again. Because of the tiger safari in Ranthambou, with no tigers, we weren't really expecting to see much. How wrong we were!! This was one of the best experiences ever, we were within touching distance of a family of three lions.....WOW! The excitement didn't stop there either, as we got a free lift with some people from Middlesbrough to the elephant rehabilitation centre. After riding and feeding an elephant, we came away feeling very content and privilaged.
After seeing what we came to see in Neyyar, we headed further south to Kovalam, a coastal town with more tourists than Blackpool Pleasure Beach! We decided to stay here for a few days as the amenities were great: swimming pool, crystal clear sea, sand, and last but not least excellent food, fresh seafood every night mmmmmmm. We are now staying here till Christmas day, which we'll be spending at the zoo :0).

So have a jolly Crimbo Chaps,
get stuffed and eat as much as you can!

P.S. Don't forget to tune in for the queens speech, we wouldn't miss it for the world!! hehe
xxx xxx xxx

written by  Kav & Sara on December 22, 2008 from Kollam, India
from the travel blog: Round the world trip!!
Send a Compliment

---

thankyou so much for the update - it sounds as if you've finally experienced a bit of culture. I'm sure you will become more wise as you continue on your travels. Have a great crimbo back, lots of love Mummy Shoesmith x

written by  susan shoesmith on December 23, 2008

---

hello sara shoe and kav, so good to hear from u both again!! def sounds like a big advernture and ur expereincing lots of different things. have a lovely christmas to you both too. lots of love mandy xxxxxxxx

written by  mandy smith on December 24, 2008

---

merry christmas folks, not the same without u both here. take care and safe travels to Thailand.
ben & tasha

written by  ben on December 25, 2008

---

Sounds like you're having a great time. Cneci boys and Helen XX

written by  Helen Stark on December 30, 2008

---

Excuse me if you're not too busy. Are you in Timbuctu yet? There must me something wrong with th'internet in Thailand. We haven't received your blog back here in Blighty.

I trust you are both well and having a satisfactory continuation of your world curry tour. Remember "It's an ill wind in the night that blows a rasberry"

Love from Theeeeeeebs xxxxx

written by  Roger Shoesmith on December 30, 2008

comment on this...